


you are the sweetest thing i’ve found since whenever

by ohvictor



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Implied Relationships, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22705069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohvictor/pseuds/ohvictor
Summary: Chikage gets distracted by Inste at work.
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru/Utsuki Chikage
Comments: 3
Kudos: 139





	you are the sweetest thing i’ve found since whenever

**Author's Note:**

> o/ i wrote this a while ago from a bot-generated prompt, and am posting it now. title is from o. lover by jason mraz.

Chikage is supposed to be working, but his head’s not in it. The files he’s supposed to be encrypting sit threateningly on his desktop, a measure he chose specifically so that the security risk would stick in his mind and nag him until he addressed them. 

It’s not _difficult_. But it is tedious, and there are better things to do...

Like, apparently, scrolling through the Inste pages of everyone in his company. He’s finished Kazunari’s, which took a while because Kazunari posts _a lot_. He’s skimmed Taichi’s and Banri’s, even dropping a few likes here and there. Banri had posted a selfie after their last joint escape game outing, just a cheesy peace sign and a caption about their undefeated escape game record. Chikage’s not in the image per his own request, but he was still _there_ , so he feels like half the likes Banri has on the photo are his. 

He’s been putting off looking at Chigasaki’s Inste, or rather, his multiple Inste pages, not because he’s saving the best for last or anything like that, nor because he doesn’t _care_ or something, but... Well, there’s no reason to delve that deep into his psyche right now. Chigasaki has three Inste pages, in fact; one for his work persona, one for his streamer persona, and one he made after joining MANKAI. The last one Chikage selfishly thinks of as the _real_ Chigasaki, or even _his_ Chigasaki, even if Chigasaki made it long before Chikage joined the company. For a long time Chikage only followed Chigasaki’s work Inste, although he was aware of the others. Not that Chigasaki is sloppy about keeping his personas separate. It’s just hard to hide things from Chikage.

As if peeling apart the petals of a flower to reach the center, Chikage starts with Chigasaki’s work Inste. This one often goes inactive for long periods, as Chigasaki tries to share as little information as he can without the risk of inviting prying into his personal life. The most recent post is two weeks old, and Chikage’s already seen it; it’s from a work party that Chigasaki was guilted into attending because it was in celebration of a big deal he’d worked overtime to help secure. Chikage did not attend because it was not his department, but he did receive several texts from Chigasaki during the party complaining about it, so it _feels_ like he was there. The picture Chigasaki posted is of his wine glass, and there’s a bland caption about being proud of the work he put in. 

What a joke. Chigasaki hated every second of that project. 

Moving onto the next petal, so to speak. Chikage opens up taruchi’s Inste. This page is more active than Chigasaki’s work Inste, but it mostly advertises new streams, so the images are unexciting. The latest post is a day old, an announcement about a speedrun Chigasaki’s doing this weekend. Chikage already knows about this; Chigasaki had warned him a week in advance to get out of the room during that time. Chikage put it in his damn calendar, not because he’d forget, but because... Maybe he likes having Chigasaki’s plans on his own schedule. That’s a little too much _thinking_ about it, but he _is_ systematically going through each of Chigasaki’s Instes, so it’s not like he can pretend he doesn’t care. 

Last is Chigasaki’s MANKAI page. Unlike the other two, it’s locked; Chikage had needed to request access from his own (locked) Inste page, although Chigasaki had accepted the request within an hour. Typical smartphone addict. (Chigasaki would say Chikage was the same.) This one was updated just hours ago, and the image makes Chikage, typically unaffected by scrolling Inste at his desk at work, have to struggle to keep his expression in check for the first time.

It’s a selfie of Chigasaki posing in the MANKAI dorm lobby, Kamekichi on one shoulder. The image is a little blurred, like he took it while moving, and he’s flashing a peace sign. The grin on his face is crooked, and the longer Chikage looks, he thinks Chigasaki might be mid-speech, given the odd shape of his lips. Despite it being a selfie, which Chigasaki usually ends up almost as vain as Kazunari over, it’s a surprisingly candid image.

 _Cute_ , Chikage’s brain supplies, traitorous. 

Before he can think too hard about it, Chikage presses down on the image, intending to save it. Nothing happens. Curious, he presses on the image again. A large red heart blooms from the place he pressed, indicating that he liked the photo.

So much for being stealthy about checking Chigasaki’s Instes. Not that he _needs_ to keep it a secret, but... Somehow, he doesn’t want Chigasaki to know he checks so often that he saw a post that’s only a few hours old. 

Trying to save the picture now that he’s already outed himself seems to add insult to injury, but he’s come this far. He tries a few other presses, which yield nothing. Evidently, Inste doesn’t let users save photos. Of course, screenshotting will do the trick, which is what Chikage settles on eventually. He crops the screenshot to just Chigasaki’s selfie, and then swipes it away into his camera roll, never to be seen again (when he’s in control of himself, anyway).

This whole digression took about seven minutes. Chikage turns back to the documents still sitting reproachfully on his desktop. With a sigh that seems to travel through his entire body, he clicks on the first one, hands poised over his keyboard to start encrypting once it opens.

Maybe once he finishes these, he can reward himself by looking at the photo he saved. Trace the curve of Chigasaki’s lips with his eyes, imagine how he’d taste if kissed mid-word, the noise of surprise he might make. Wonder what he was saying, remember the sound of his voice, his customary deadpan that rises cheekily when he’s pleased or drops low when he’s angry. Stare at his fingers posed in a peace sign, wish their fingers were tangled together, or even— 

This is the opposite of focusing, Chikage scolds himself, hunching with renewed vigor over the keyboard. _Clearly_ his memory of the photo is good enough that using it as reward is doing no good, so he’ll have to think of something else. Or perish all thought of Chigasaki from his mind. Sentimentality is a liability in Chikage’s line of work, except lately, sentimentality is everywhere, inescapable. Every little thing reminds him of the home he’s stumbled into, the love he’s found there, the love he’s found inside himself. 

It’s a security risk. Everything is a risk.

The documents on his screen blink back at him, waiting for him to launch the encryption code. With a flick of his fingers, he does so, and then watches the program’s status bar slowly fill with green. 

He wonders what Omi is making for dinner tonight. 


End file.
